My Achy-Breaky Heart
by Elena George
Summary: Follows Andy, Sharon, and the team after the end of White Lies pt 3. At least this is how I would do it :-) Pls read and review.


My Achy-Breaky Heart

++Thank you Billy Ray Cyrus for a memorable tune++

A mop of Burgundy-colored hair was what he saw first in the dusky colors of the very early morning light. He spotted her glasses on the tray-table which had been pushed to the foot of the bed. A plastic sack with his clothes sat next to her glasses. His hand was attached to and held fast by her two hands which were clasped around his, holding on for dear life, long after she'd finally fallen asleep. His soul mate was asleep in the aqua chair by his bed.

Sharon had stretched it out into a daybed. She had turned herself around on it, chair arms toward her feet, to facilitate her holding Andy's hand all through the night and enabling her to watch him carefully. Her jacket was thrown over the back of the other chair in the room, and her shoes were tucked under the chair with her purse, out of way. A night nurse had given her a pillow and cotton blanket to curl up in. A soft pair of hospital socks kept her feet warm and safe from slipping on the floor should she need to arise.

Just the night before, he had been in terrific pain. He had fallen against Sharon's office doorframe that was near his desk. He had seen the look of fear in her eyes and felt his own radiating outward. He heard his teammates' voice calling out to him as his world began to shrink into darkness. He felt her hands touching him, comforting him, holding him. This was far worse than the time he'd been tossed from a moving vehicle which had also landed him here - in a hospital bed. It was worse by far than the times he'd passed out because his blood pressure would support no more anger. This was the worst he'd ever felt. But, that was the night before.

Today, he felt almost human again. The debilitating chest pain had subsided. There was an IV in his hand and wires leading from his chest to the monitor. He could not see it clearly, but he was aware it was back there. His peripheral vision had returned. Last night, all he could see was Sharon bent down to his side as his vision dimmed and constricted into darkness. A cannula provided oxygen for him to breathe.

He was wondering what time it was when his reverie was interrupted by her soft voice.

"Andy?" Sharon asked as she reoriented her body. "How are you feeling?" she inquired as she rubbed his hand.

That hand reached back out to caress her face.

"Sharon, how long have I been here?" Andy wondered.

"We got you up here in the wee hours of the morning. They wanted to make sure you were stable before moving you out of the ER," she supplied. "You were so heavily sedated, it's not surprising you don't remember it."

Blunt as ever, Andy asked "Oh, I remember the pain, leaning on your door at the office. I remember you and the team...just not much else. So, am I dying or something?"

Sharon gave him a sad smile and shook her head, "No, not yet. You had an angina attack. Later today, they are going to run some tests to see how bad things are."

"Well, then, since we've still got time together, how about we get married and make it official?" Andy offered up.

"I thought we talked about marrying in the priest's office. To do that, I need to have my marriage to Jack annulled. That paperwork is still working its way through channels," she placed her cheek into his hand and sighed.

"I know. But would a civil marriage mess that process up?" Andy rubbed her cheeks tenderly.

"I don't know," Sharon raised her head. "I'll put that on the list of questions to ask for later. For right now, I want to see you through this crisis."

A nurse knocked and entered, "Morning vitals check," she said cheerily. "How does our patient feel right now?"

Andy thought a moment, "Good. No, I'm hungry. I missed dinner last night. Spent it in the ER, I think," he laughed.

"Well, I see we ARE feeling much better," the nurse went on. "Last night, they noted that you were rather grumpy."

Andy looked at Sharon who simply shrugged.

"So, what's on the agenda for today?" Andy inquired.

"I believe that a staff cardiologist is coming in this morning to discuss it with you. He's got a case to do in the OR this morning around 8 am," the nurse checked the notes. "So, you have some time before he shows up."

"Any chance I could get some breakfast?"

"Not if they plan on taking you to the cardiac cath lab. Your chart says 'NPO' for that reason. The best I can offer is letting you rinse your mouth out, brush your teeth, but no consumption of liquids or solids until that 'NPO' comes off," she said. "Sorry, Mr. Flynn."

"Andy, you can call me Andy," he responded. "This is my fiancée Sharon."

"Oh, okay. The note said she was your wife," the nurse offered as she reread the notes from last night.

"Yeah, we get that a lot," Andy chuckled as Sharon just shook her head ever so slightly.

The nurse gave them a kind smile as she left the room.

Moments later, Patrice entered after knocking. She pulled the chart from the rack and began to scan it.

"So, Louie tells me you scared everyone half to death last night after the case wrapped up. No pizza and beer to celebrate, just lights and sirens on the way to the hospital," Patrice said flatly. "Louie sent me to check on you two," she added as she warmly embraced Sharon who was up on her feet and starting to make her makeshift bed.

"Yeah, that's kind of the way it all happened," smiled Andy.

"Well, at least it was not a 'widow maker' heart attack," Patrice closed the file and replaced it. "It was wake-up call. By the looks of the tests they have scheduled, they are suspecting some kind of blockage around your heart."

Sharon paled when Patrice mentioned "widow maker heart attack."

"I hope you like taking pills, Andy," Patrice continued. "Your cholesterol is pretty high..."

"Yeah, I've fought that for years now," Andy agreed.

Patrice looked up, "And that blood pressure could be better, too."

Andy nodded.

"I put Louie on a special diet so this does not happen to us," Patrice crossed her arms.

Sharon pursed her lips and thought, _And you should see what he does with that!_

As they were discussing matters, the cardiologist entered.

"I'm Dr. Mason, a cardiologist on staff here. Once we get a good diagnosis, I'll refer you to another cardiologist if your health plan works that way. Otherwise, you and your primary care will need to make that decision. Questions?" he inquired.

Andy looked to Sharon and Patrice, shrugged, "No. What's next?"

"It appears you had a precursor to a heart attack. We treated you medically last night and got you stabilized. Today, we are going to start with a heart catheterization," he began. He flipped up the covers, exposing Andy's legs. "Later this morning, I'm going to run a catheter up your leg to your heart," he pointed at roughly where he'd enter. "We will start you on a dye so that when I've got the catheter in place, we can get a good look around. I suspect you have some kind of blockage," he continued as he replaced the covers.

"Depending on the blockage, we have two general courses of treatment. If it's small enough or in the right spot, I will inflate a balloon on the end of the catheter and push the plaque back down. The more serious route would be a coronary bypass surgery. Unless it looks really, really bad, we would not do that today. Bypass surgery means I crack open your chest, steal some veins from elsewhere and essentially give your heart muscle a new blood supply."

While Patrice was nodding in understanding, both Andy and Sharon were blanching with what Dr. Mason was describing. Sharon's mouth went dry.

Andy finally found his voice, "So how long does all this take?"

"I can do the balloon angioplasty in a matter of a couple of hours," he said with certitude. "Bypass surgery is a whole other thing. That takes multiple hours and a larger team as well as planning it out ahead of time. I've done emergency bypass surgeries, but I prefer not to go that route."

"When?" Sharon was able to squeak out.

"As soon as they have him prepped, I'll do him around 11 am or so. I've got two cases just like it ahead of him as we speak," Dr. Mason concluded. "So, you ready?"

Andy looked to Sharon and then to Patrice who nodded, "Okay then. Let's do it."

Dr. Mason nodded and finished, "Then somebody with more paperwork skills than I have will get that ready. Then you'll go downstairs to the cardiac cath lab and be sedated. If you were not already an in-patient, it would otherwise be an out-patient procedure. We do hundreds of these every month. Not to worry," he looked toward Sharon.

With a smile, the doctor left the room for his next patient.

"Hey, at least I've got you filling out the DNR paperwork this time," he laughed. "Last time, Provenza tried to kill me."

Patrice gave him a funny look.

"He just went right down the list and put DNR on everything, regardless," Andy told her. "Never should have given him medical power of attorney!"

Sharon covered her giggle while Patrice shook her head and just laughed.

The tech came for Andy at 9:30 following the completion of the paperwork. After Andy was wheeled off, Sharon called Rusty asking him to bring her some fresh clothes from home. She asked him to bring her something casual and comfortable. The hardest part was having him delve into her lingerie drawer. It was more embarrassing for Rusty than for Sharon who found it slightly amusing that the young man was so modest. Her traveling makeup was in a bag in the closet in her large roller luggage.

As soon as Rusty got to the hospital, Sharon was in the shower, leaving Patrice to explain all that had transpired in the last few hours. Rusty had been sent home last night knowing that Andy was stable. When Patrice had explained it all to his satisfaction, he sprinted off to his first class which met at 11 am that day. When Sharon came out of the shower, hair towel dried and twisted on top of her head, she found that Patrice had departed as planned. She was alone with her thoughts, prayers, and worries.

As a general rule, if you are not first in line, the line will back up. A procedure that is scheduled to start at 11 am might get started at noon. This was no different for Andy. The difference for Andy was Demerol. He was not able to find the button within marked "angry" or even "slightly discontented." Andy was in "la-la-land" until early afternoon.

She had run out to a quick-mart two blocks over and found a mindless "junk" novel and chips for entertainment. She was not much of a TV watcher, so daytime programming bored her to tears. Neither had she felt like watching the live drama of the 24/7 news networks. She had plenty enough stress in her life at the moment without seeking out more. Instead, Sharon shook out her hair to braid it. A clasp held it all in place off her neck once she had it rearranged to her satisfaction. Only then did she curl into the chair and begin to read. Most of the words held no meaning as her mind drifted back to her lover a couple of floors away.

Somewhere after afternoon shift change, Andy was wheeled back to the room where Sharon had been waiting. Andy was aware that he was feeling no pain when he flashed a big goofy grin in her general direction.

"Sweetheart," Andy began in a lilting rhythm. "They gave me something to deaden the pain. I don't want to lose you or my sobriety."

"Don't worry," Sharon reassured him. "You'll be fine. Did they tell you anything?"

"Nope," he started. "But now, I'm even hungrier than I was before."

She stroked his face tenderly, "Let me see what I can find out."

Sharon left the room for the nurses' station. All the faces had changed. She looked at the board, found Andy's name. Next to his name were the nurses for each shift who would be caring for him as a primary duty. "L J Strickland" was listed for the 3-11 shift.

"Can I help you?" asked the clerk.

"Yes. May I speak to L J Strickland? Andy Flynn was just brought back fm his procedure and wants to know if he could please have something to eat. His last meal was lunch yesterday."

"Larry? What can you tell her abt Mr. Flynn?" the clerk passed the ball.

Larry got up and walked with Sharon back to Andy's room.

"Hi Mr. Flynn. I'm Larry Strickland, your nurse for the afternoon. I understand that you're a little hungry," Larry gave a grin.

"Starving is more like it," Andy replied.

Larry nodded. "Understood. Dr. Mason will be here in an hour or so to discuss the procedure. Until then, the NPO order stands. I'm sorry, but as soon as Dr. Mason gives the okay, I'll have something brought up for you." Larry saw the bag of chip, "No, cheating until then, okay"

Sharon moved the bag well away from Andy's reach, "No problem!"

"I would probably expect Dr. Mason to come by later this afternoon. The cath lab got backed up, but I've never known him to go home before talking to the patient or patient's family," Larry assured them.

A few hours later, Dr. Mason did indeed stop in.

"Well, Mr. Flynn," he started. "The procedure went well. We pushed plaque in three arteries around your heart."

He put his model on the tray-table and began to describe what had been done.

"This was the first artery we investigated it. It was 45 percent blocked. This one was 35 percent blocked. And this one was 79 percent blocked. The angioplasty will keep you going for a while. No strenuous activity and a modified diet are in order for the next few months. You own cardiologist will provide more specific directions," Mason indicated.

"Doc, I'm a recovering alcoholic. What about the shot you gave me this morning? Is that going to work against my sobriety?" Andy needed to know.

"It shouldn't. How long have you been sober?"

"About 20 years. And I do NOT want to go back to what I was," Andy was emphatic.

"Well, that's the right attitude and spirit," agreed the doctor. "Your heart was damaged over the time when you were actively drinking, so let that be another motivator to keep your sobriety."

'Damaged?" echoed Sharon.

He nodded, "In time, you are going to end up with more surgery. I think in a year or so, you may need more angioplasty, even if you keep to a good diet. If that fails, you will need by-pass surgery to ensure sufficient blood flow to the heart muscle. This area here," he pointed to the model again, "is not doing well at all. Loss of blood flow has killed some of the muscle tissue. That in turn impairs the overall functioning of the heart."

Sharon was petrified by the news, "Dr. Mason, you said some of the muscle tissue was dead?"

He nodded, "It does not mean you can't have a full and meaningful life. It just means that some activities will require more effort or may eventually fall by the wayside over time."

"I'm a cop," Andy protested. "What are we talking about here?"

"Instead of running, try walking. Walking and swimming are two excellent aerobic exercises. But...I do not want you out there trying to 'kill snakes' as we'd say in Texas. I want you to start slowly and build up your stamina," the doctor continued. "I will recommend a cardiac therapy routine to begin with. You will want to take that and discuss it with your own cardiologist."

"You keep saying my own cardiologist. Why can't you be my own cardiologist?" Andy asked as Sharon nodded in agreement.

"I'm a staff doc here." he smiled. "I work for the hospital, not in private practice. Most health plans require you get a consult through your primary care. Think of it as a different pot of money for the same problem and blame the bureaucrats for it all."

Sharon looked at Andy, "So when does that happen? How long is Andy going to be here?"

"I would like to release him to rest at home as early as tomorrow," Dr. Mason offered. "His primary care office will need to request the treatment records, HIPPA you know, for the next phase of treatment. For now, I'm going to start you with a bland cardiac diet since I heard you were hungry," he chuckled. "Bland is just that. Bland. Just don't think that this is all there is to what you can and cannot eat."

Andy looked at Sharon with a question or two in his eyes. She nodded and stroked his cheek.

"We will make this work," she said confidently to the doctor, not breaking her eye contact with Andy.

"Bland, oh goodie," he grumbled. "Looks like Provenza and I will be eating the same rabbit food together!"

Sharon stifled a snicker.

"Let's start out slowly, okay?" Dr Mason noted. "The objective is a long, healthy life."

"Am I going to have to retire?" Andy suddenly though aloud.

Dr. Mason shrugged, "That's a matter for you to talk over with your family as well as work and your primary care. What I am going to recommend is a week off work. That should give you time to meet with your primary care, get plugged into a consult for a cardiologist, and get to feeling a little better before going back to work. Your primary care may extend it or not."

With that, Dr. Mason departed.

Andy looked at Sharon, "What do you think, Sweetheart?"

"Let's hear what Dr. Boyd has to say and go from there. We've got an extra hand that Chief Howard is loaning us. It's going to take time for Wes Nolan to decompress anyway. This is as good a time as any to have you out for a week," Sharon surmised. "Lt Provenza can get him back up to speed with case management. That is if he doesn't kill him along the way," she said with a smile.

Sharon put both hands on his cheeks and looked deeply into his eyes, "It's going to be okay, Andy. Really."

He smiled, "You say that like you mean it."

"Because I do mean it," she assured him.

"You still going to marry this old broken man?"

"The sooner, the better," she declared as she squeezed the tears back.


End file.
